need new catfish!!

Marelius · Post by **Marelius** » 08 Oct 2005, 21:17

i have a 64 Liter aquarium that need some catfishes..
i hav 4 neontetra 4tigerbarbes and for zebrafishes(danio)..
I would like a pair of them like that its gonna be some bebies!
tanx for all answers:)

Post by **Silurus** » 09 Oct 2005, 02:59

If you want something easy to breed, try this.

Marelius · Post by **Marelius** » 11 Oct 2005, 15:36

what about one male and one female of L46???
maybe they are to big..==

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 11 Oct 2005, 15:51

They would be on the large side for your tank, but the more prohibitive side of breeding these fish are their current market price.

You'd be hard pushed to find a youngster for anything less than $100 or $150. This would be a fish that takes a year or two to maturity, and probably another 6-12 months before you're getting them to spawn. Never mind the fact that you'd have to buy several of them to find out which is male or female.

Add to that the fact that you're a beginner breeder [and so am I], and when breeding fish, it's a good starting point to begin with something "easy" and work up. If you get to breed, you can start thinking about something more difficult, like Peckoltia or Hypancistrus species. It isn't entirely unlikely that your first spawn fails [mine did, due to a carnivourous gold-fish in the same tank]. If you have a common bristlenose pair, then all you have to do to get another spawn is wait a few weeks. Other species, such as could take several months, and would involve water chemistry variations to trigger the spawn, if not another year [and water chemistry variations], before they spawn again. And the babies take much longer to grow to maturity. My first successfull spawn is about 9-10 months old now, and they are now mature enough to spawn. H. Zebra would take about 3 years from spawn to maturity.

Add to all that, the fact that your H. Zebra are more sensitive to "bad water", and require higher circulation/oxygenation to thrive and potentially spawn.

It's of course your tank, and your money, so you do what you like...

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Mats

Marelius · Post by **Marelius** » 11 Oct 2005, 15:58

the ancistrus i have got babies on 10-13 times so....
some one else that might be good??
(like pretty and not of the most expensiv ones)???

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 11 Oct 2005, 16:38

Ah, that bit of information was sort of missing in your original post.

How about or . Bot of these are available in England at prices around Â£15-25, around US $30-50, and they aren't supposed to be VERY difficult to breed. They do grow a little bit bigger, so may need a bigger tank tho'.

Another option would be something like or . Especially the latter is suitably small. Unfortunately, it also LOOKS almost exactly like the common bristlenose.

Some of the smaller species, like might be another idea.

One thought would be to look at breeding reports in Shane's world, and see what fish has been bred, and pick one of those...

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Mats

Marelius · Post by **Marelius** » 11 Oct 2005, 17:25

i think ill go for the L183..
tanx for all answers..
but at a norwegian aquarium forum they say that the aquarium should be more then 100-120 Liters before it will have a good life, is that fact or????

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 11 Oct 2005, 17:47

The bigger ancistrus species will push 5" (125 mm) total length, which is a bit on the big side for a 64 liter tank, especially considering that there are several other fish in the tank too, so if that's the only tank you can utilize now, then I would recommend a smaller specie than the for example. A. Claro is a better choice, as it rarely grows longer than 3" (75 mm).

To be honest, the tank you've got is definitely on the small side for just about ANY of the Loricariidae [including those I've suggested previously, with the exception of A. Claro], except for some Otocinclus/Hopoptoma/Parotocinclus species that stay small.

Of course, with frequent/large water changes, it could be done, but I'd say that you're pushing the limit a bit... Especially for breeding them, as you need two, and they will want to have their own territory. A 64 L tank is only about 30 x 60 cm base, and that's more of an issue than the actual volume. You want the fish to have more than twice it's length in at least some direction before it's on someone else's territory, if you see what I mean.

Sorry if I've messed up this... I kept forgetting just how small the tank would be for those bigger species...

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Mats

Marelius · Post by **Marelius** » 11 Oct 2005, 18:07

no harm done...
i have to see wich type of catfishes they have in town so...
the claro seems cool!!

gemsonthebottom · Post by **gemsonthebottom** » 12 Oct 2005, 23:07

Marelius did you read that L183 is a blackwater fish?